The Marauders: Padfoot
by genies9
Summary: Part I of IV. This is the story of Marauders' last two years at Hogwarts, filled with classes, danger, and love. First up is Sirius...


A/N: This is my first HP fanfic... well, all right, this has been in my head since 2003, since I read OOTP. Although, it didn't become a series until after I read HBP, and then I spent the rest of that summer plotting this out.

The general structure of this series is sort of going to go like this: The first three stories follow the same basic plot/stuff that happens, only from the various points of views.The fourth one sort of diverges from the rest, but yeah, I'll get to that when it gets there.

Be gentle. I've been writing fanfiction for years and years, but the first in a fandom is the hardest.

Prologue

_November 1, 1981_

James and Lily Potter were dead.

Arabella Davis hardly knew how to digest this. She rather thought that she should cry. That would be the normal reaction, after all. They had been her friends since their Hogwarts days, Lily since that first ride on the Hogwarts Express.

It was nearly dawn. Glancing out the window of her front room, Arabella sighed. She had been up all night; the news had arrived by owl from Remus Lupin—from whom he heard the news he didn't say—a few hours earlier. With it came the horrible news of Sirius' betrayal.

She leaned her head against the back of her chair. It might make her horrible, but that news was worse a blow than the news of James and Lily's murder. The Sirius she had known could not do something like this. The Sirius she had fallen for in her sixth year—or, if she were honest with herself, before that, even—would never betray his best friends.

Arabella lifted her hand to inspect the ring there. Was the man who had betrayed the Potters to Voldemort the same man who had just a few months before asked her to marry him?

Her front door rattled from the force of a knock. "Bella?" a familiar voice called from the other side. "Bella, are you there?"

Arabella rose from her seat and hurried to the window. Sure enough, she could see Sirius Black standing on her stoop. With a feeling of fear she never in her life expected to feel at the sight of him, Arabella quickly drew the curtains across the front window, blocking him out.

He must have seen, because a moment later she heard him say, "Arabella, I know you're there. Please, open the door." When she didn't make a move to open the door, he continued, "If I wanted to hurt you, a closed door would hardly stop me. Now open up." After a pause, "Please."

She felt a blush creep up her neck. Of course she wouldn't be able to stop him. Not very effectively, anyway. Sirius was a far more powerful wizard than she was a witch. Damn him for using that against her now.

With a sigh, she unlocked the door and opened it. She gasped, her hand flying over her mouth. She didn't know what she had expected to see when she opened the door, but whatever it was, it certainly wasn't this.

He looked almost as though he had aged immensely overnight. His face was tight and strained, his hair looked wild, as though he'd been yanking on it so that it stayed in a permanently spiked position. His eyes had a wild glint to them that she had never seen before.

"Sirius?"

He stepped forward and she moved out of the way to let him pass, following him into the room she had just vacated. "What—?"

"You've heard?" he demanded. At her startled look, he added, "About James and Lily?"

"I—yes."

He sank down into her chair. "You have to believe me, I had nothing to do with it."

Arabella stared at him for a moment. "But you were…"

He shook his head vehemently. "No. I wasn't the secret keeper. I was supposed to be, but we thought… I thought… that it would be better if it were Wormtail. Less obvious. No one would expect him."

It was Arabella's turn to sink down into her seat this time. "Peter?"

Sirius nodded. He looked stricken. Could this really be the face of a man who would betray his friends?

She stared at him for a long moment. "Er… what are you going to do?" The look on his face suddenly changed. "Sirius?"

He blew out a long breath. "I don't know. But I have to do something." He stood suddenly. "If nothing else, I need to clear my name."

Arabella rose slowly, eyeing him warily. "Sirius, you're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"

He smiled, looking for a moment like his old self. "When have I ever done anything stupid, Bella?" She gave him a skeptical look. Sirius stepped closer to her and rested his hands on her arms. "I promise to try not to do anything you would disapprove of." He leaned forward and kissed her. Drawing away, he let go of her, turning toward the door. "I should go." He strode toward the door, glancing back at her. "I will be back in a few hours."

Her stomach knotted painfully. This was not going to end well, she could feel it. She didn't like the sudden change in him. "Sirius…"

"Don't worry so much, Bella," he said, using the nickname only he was ever allowed to call her. "I'll see you soon." With one last look back at her, he opened the door and walked out.

She never saw him again.


End file.
